Letter: Smear short on documentation

One of Democrat Roy Herron's ads says Stephen Fincher, his Republican opponent for the 8th Congressional District seat, "broke the law" and was "criminal" regarding financial disclosure. Well, if a law was broken, why was Fincher not charged? If it was criminal, why is he not on trial?

I went to Herron's campaign headquarters in town and asked for the documentation to back up that ad. I was told I would have to leave my name and phone number, and the person with that knowledge would call me. I asked for that person's name, and I would call him. They refused to give it to me. Could it be that he or the documentation do not exist?

I then looked at Fincher's website for his response. There, Fincher indicated the nonpartisan group Factcheck.org found no wrongdoing. I went to that website and found that there was no "intentional" wrongdoing, so all the allegations made were unfounded.

The ad also said The Associated Press had printed some articles, so I called them. They said the disclosure forms "seemed" questionable, but did not call them criminal or breaking the law; that came from the Herron campaign. I then called the Federal Election Commission in Washington, and they said that if anything was wrong, it would be in review, but Fincher was clear.

Herron says Fincher is unworthy of our trust, but it seems Herron is the one who is spreading untruths, and so would be breaking the law by making false allegations.